Tag Archives: Matt Cain

The Mets are falling fast in the NL East as management, led by Sandy Alderson – the game’s smartest general manager, as his biographer proclaims – sits idly by utilizing his favorite strategy, which is to cross his fingers and hope.

Nobody likes the chances of the Mets, once ten games over .500, to get past Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in the first two games of their series at Los Angeles. With a brutal July schedule, it isn’t a reach to think the Mets could be cooked by the All-Star break.

Alderson, who gave manager Terry Collins a “vote of confidence,’’ prior to Friday’s game, has three options to snap the Mets from their offensive funk.

The first is hope, which means to stand pat and hope one or two players snap out of it. Notably, the Mets need Lucas Duda, who is hitting .172 with one homer over the past 27 games. They also need the return of David Wright, but nobody can say with any degree of certainty when that could be.

The second is to trade one of their four young stud pitchers for a bat, but Alderson has shown no inclination to deal from the group of Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom or Steven Matz. Instead, Alderson prefers to trade either Jon Niese or Bartolo Colon. Niese and Colon have pitched well lately, but not to where they are drawing substantial interest.

Ideally, I would prefer Alderson hold onto that group and stack their rotation with Zack Wheeler next season. But, how often have the Mets had a chance to compete for the playoffs since 2006, the last year they saw October? It’s not unrealistic to think this could be their best chance for awhile. After all, Harvey missed last year with Tommy John surgery. Wheeler had it and won’t be back until next July. Matz and deGrom also had it. Nobody knows when the next injury will occur.

Frankly, Reynolds isn’t burning it up down below to warrant a promotion. The Mets’ thinking on Conforto is to keep him down because they are concerned about his psyche. But, if his psyche is so fragile to where he could be damaged by not producing then maybe he’s not as good as the Mets are talking him up to be, and perhaps they should learn that now.

However, keeping Conforto down has more to do with economics than it does psychology. As they did with their young pitchers, the Mets want to delay starting the clock on their major league service time.

So, not knowing the economic landscape of the game or their budget five years down the road, the Mets are making a financial decision for the future over a possible chance to improve themselves now, a year in which they pledged to compete.

Just not smart, but nobody said hope was a brilliant strategy. So, Sandy break out the rabbit’s foot.

Among the myriad of questions facing the New York Mets this question, I believe the most important is the status of David Wright.

A recent ESPN poll listed baseball’s top ten third basemen and Wright, based on his recent injury history and performance, wasn’t on the list and shouldn’t have been. Therein, is why he’s my most critical Mets’ question heading into the 2015.

WRIGHT: He needs to smile again. (AP)

The key focus on Wright is health. Only once on the past four years did he play in as many as 150 games. Last year, a bum left shoulder limited him to 134 games and hurt his performance in the field and at the plate.

As the face of the franchise, Wright was rewarded with an eight-year, $138-million contract that has the Mets committed to him through the 2020 season. He was signed with the hope he’d regain his All-Star form.

This isn’t about whether the Mets should have signed Wright, or whether they should have taken Jose Reyes instead. It is about the immediate situation, which is Wright’s status. He’s here and not going anywhere.

It must be understood Wright has been a star, but his most productive seasons when he was younger and healthier, but also when he was surrounded by supporting talent, notably Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. Wright has always been an important element to the Mets’ success, but never the centerpiece bat.

This year will be more of the same. The main source of power will come from Lucas Duda followed by Curtis Granderson. If they meet expectations, a lot of pressure could come off Wright.

A seven-time All-Star, Wright figures to bat third and could be prevented with solid RBI opportunities if there’s a productive leadoff hitter and strong season from Daniel Murphy.

It can’t be underestimated how the upheaval at the top of the order, plus the lack of support behind him, coupled with his injuries and propensity for carrying the weight of the team on his shoulders contributed to him not driving in over 100 runs since 2010 or scoring over 100 runs since 2008.

Then again, every time Wright struggles resurfaces the questions stemming from the 2009 beaning by Matt Cain.

This is a critical year for Wright, who at 31, is at the crossroads of his career. Does his slide continue or can he recapture the stroke that made him an elite talent?

Wright as Wright can carry the Mets to the next level to potential playoff contending status. If not, and he struggles again, there will be the lingering questions about his contract, especially if he’s healthy and doesn’t produce.

There are six more years on that contract and could become an albatross.

There are few sounds in sports more distinctive, or sickening, than that of pitched ball hitting a player in the helmet, which the New York Mets heard Thursday night when Johnny Hellweg beaned David Wright in the third inning.

Nothing ever good comes with that sound.

WRIGHT: Beaned. (Getty)

Wright went down in a heap, reminiscent of when San Francisco’s Matt Cain hit him in 2009 to force him to the disabled list. Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy immediately came to Wright’s aid in a wonderful display of sportsmanship.

“He passed a concussion test,’’ manager Terry Collins said. “We’ll do some things (Saturday) and see if he has a headache. He said, `I’ll be OK.’ But I said, great, but you’re still out of the game.’’

Cain hit Wright with a 94-mph. fastball; Hellweg hit him with an 86-mph. fastball. Both sounds were unnerving.

Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez helped Wright off the field, and he was immediately examined and passed a concussion test. Wright’s status for the remaining three games of the season is unknown.

“I’m feeling fine,’’ Wright said. “It was for precautionary reasons for not staying in the game.’’

Wright said there were differences between this and the Cain beaning.

“It’s scary,’’ Wright said. “I have been through this before. It was a lot less painful this time. … You go through your checkpoints. My ears weren’t ringing. I knew the score. There was no memory loss.’’

Wright will undergo more tests Friday, but even if his head is clear, there’s another obstacle as when he fell backwards and jammed his right thumb.

In many ways, tonight was a microcosm of the Mets’ season with an injury, and a decent pitching performance from Dillon Gee wasted from a lack of run support.

The Mets had their chances with 15 base runners in the 4-2 loss. Overall, the Mets were 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 runners.

Gee entered seeking his 13th victory, but wound up losing his 11th as he gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings. He finished one inning shy of 200 for the season. Collins shot down the idea of giving Gee an inning Sunday – which would be his throw day – to reach that milestone.

“(Gee) has a lot to be proud of,’’ Collins said. “From where he was last year, to where he finished this season, he has every reason to be proud.’’

Your comments are greatly appreciated and I will attempt to respond. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

It was a situation Josh Satin has experienced countless times, even before he did so tonight with the New York Mets.

“Incredible,’’ Satin said before a crowd of notepads and cameras. “It was one of the moments you kind of dream about, especially for me, a guy who has been in the minor leagues for the better part of five years.

SATIN: Comes through in clutch. (AP)

“When I take batting practice, I say it,’’ he continued before taking the role of an imaginary play-by-play announcer. “Bases loaded, down by one run, two out in the ninth …’’

What would happen next, after battling off four straight sliders from Sergio Romo, Satin had a hunch.

“After he threw me four straight sliders I had a feeling in the back of my mind he would throw me a fastball,” said Satin.

Romo did and Satin ripped it to left to drive in two runs that carried the Mets, who for seven innings had been listless against Matt Cain, to a 5-4 victory over the champion Giants.

“It’s easy say, `We’re not supposed to hit this guy,’ ” manager Terry Collins said. “This could be a big lift for us.’’

Prior to the game, Collins said he wanted his team to leave an impression on him and his coaches.

“Any time you walk on a field somebody is watching, and most of the time it is me,’’ Collins said when if there was enough time left in the season for a player to make an impression, good or bad, regarding next year.

“Every time you leave the field make somebody talk about you. Run hard to first. Back up a play. Throw a curveball for strikes.’’

The Mets did very little of those things for seven innings tonight, but there’s a reason why they play nine.

“If you wonder what our offense is supposed to be about, it was in that ninth inning,’’ Collins said. “We put on one good at-bat after another.’’

The Mets stole a run in the eighth when Matt den Dekker singled, stole second, went to third on Buster Posey’s wild throw, and scored on Satin’s sacrifice fly.

Romo replaced Casilla, and faced Zack Lutz, who pinch-hit for Ruben Tejada, who fractured his right fibula in a collision with Brown in the top of the inning. Lutz doubled home Brown – “It was a fastball out over the plate,’’ Lutz said – and rookie Juan Centeno, in his major league debut, singled home Lagares.

After Omar Quintanilla flew out to shallow right, up was Satin, home in his backyard.

This time, his imagination was real.

“It’s been an incredible year,’’ said Satin, “and this was the best moment.’’

TEJADA INJURED: It wasn’t so great for Tejada, who fractured his leg in a collision with Brown. Tejada will be out from six to eight weeks before beginning rehab. “I dropped down like I’ve been trained to,” Brown said. “At the last second he clipped my leg. It makes me feel horrible.”

Your comments are greatly appreciated and I will attempt to respond. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

There are a lot of things I want to see happen for the 2013 Mets, such as making the playoffs. However, in the hope of being realistic, let’s talk about some of the things that would be good to see happen.

Perhaps if several of these happen, there might be some fun at Citi Field.

TRADING JOHAN SANTANA: Don’t get me wrong, I like Santana. I really do. I’d like nothing more than for him to remain healthy and regain his status as an elite pitcher and guide the Mets into October. But, let’s face it, even if Santana were to have a strong season the Mets don’t have enough pieces and will buy him out after this season. Given that, I’d settle on him being healthy and productive in the first half and the Mets being able to deal him to a contender. They’ll have to pick up some of the contract, but if they could swing a trade getting something is better than having him walk after the year with a $5.5 million buyout.

NIESE: Pitch like a No. 1

JON NIESE TAKING THE NEXT STEP: Niese is the Mets’ ace despite a career-high 13 victories. There’s a lot to like about his future, but even more to like if he wins north of 15 games and gets to the next level.

DILLON GEE PITCHES LIKE A NO. 3: Gee enters spring training recovering from an aneurism. The doctors say he’s ready to go, but can anybody say how he’ll do? Gee has been impressive in spots, but no more than a No. 5 starter. He needs to step up his game.

MATT HARVEY LIVES THE HYPE: He’s had ten starts, not enough to pencil him in for the Cy Young Award. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain pitched dominating baseball early in their careers, can Harvey do the same?

BOBBY PARNELL BECOMES A PITCHER: There’s no doubting Parnell’s stuff, but he needs to improve his command, secondary pitches and learn how to challenge hitters with that fastball. The Mets can’t count on Frank Francisco to stay healthy and be a reliable closer. If not him, it has to be Parnell.